Curling icon

Curling is a great sport. Many things make it a good sport; the keen strategy of well matched teams, the refined sportsmanship of the Spirit of Curling, the sing-song calls of "Hurry, Hurry hard!" But the things that most contribute to curling being a great sport are two. First, that a middle-aged, otherwise out-of-shape person can compete at a very high level. And second, that a match can be completed while only putting down your drink to refill it.

It's a magical game. Magical.

But Curling has been missing from OpenStreetMap to date. Not for any failing of Curling or even for the drunken excesses for which the game is most famous. No, curling has been missing from OpenStreetMap because hey, no icons.

Poor Ayr, Ontario, poor any small town in Canada. You can't BE a small town in Canada without a curling rink. Except on the prairies, where a grain elevator can sit in for a curling rink.

But look at this. Look at Ayr, Ontario. A simple text name does not honour a curling rink.

Compare the dignified curling rink and the icon-less face slap that is the text-only render. Compare that to the high status given to a simple pub.

This wrong cannot stand. For what is a pub but a curling rink without the benefit of hilarious ice-related slip and fall injuries? How can one permit the noble curling rink to be deprived of the dignity it deserves?

A curling rink is barely on the map at all with a simple text name. There has been no option to honour a curling rink with an icon, for there have been no curling icons for us to include in svn for OpenStreetMap.

Until now. Tar file below. PD license.

Think of the curlers. Think of the children. Think of the icons. Add these icons to svn.openstreetmap.org, oh, great committers. Add the icons for k:sport; v:curling, so that the Ayr Curling Rink can have the icon it deserves. The icon that the Sport of Kings deserves. The Sport of Pudgy, Tipsy Kings.

Background for Curling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling

Some PD source material
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Curling_stone.svg

Update: 13 Feb 2009: modified the svg images by saving as Plain SVG.

And now, Ed Loach has it rendering. Wonderful!

Map